Nader, LaVoie discuss issues with first responders

WINSTED — The Office of the Community Lawyer, in conjunction with the Nader family, held a dinner event for volunteer first responders on Tuesday, March 25.The dinner was held at a vacant retail space at 414 Main St. where the Naders and Community Lawyer Charlene LaVoie have held several events in the past few months.More than 40 members of the Winsted Fire Department, the Winchester Center Fire Department and the Winsted Area Ambulance Association attended the dinner.“We wanted to have an opportunity to recognize the volunteer first responders for the work that they do,” LaVoie said before the event. “They do very important work in town and its nice to recognize them. However, we also want to talk to them about what they need more of in terms of support and how to help them with the work that they do. That’s why we invited them to this meeting.”Both Ralph Nader and his sister Claire Nader were present at the meeting, with Ralph Nader and LaVoie moderating.“I think one problem is that young people don’t know much about their hometown of Winsted, including the volunteer organizations here,” Ralph Nader said. “Young people know more about video games, cartoons and virtual reality than their hometown. They don’t know what these volunteer organizations really do. It’s more than just fire trucks that put out fires. It takes very intricate work to put out any fire. There’s all kinds of training that you have to go through.”Winchester Center Fire Department Chief Peter Marchand said getting volunteers, including younger people, has been challenging for the department.“I think right now there is a lack of volunteers in all civic organizations,” Marchand said. “Younger people are all tied up with families and many of them have children. They also work two jobs to make ends meet, so to me its all human nature. We have the same needs as the other fire departments in the state. Our department needs volunteers, but there are so many federal and state mandates the department has to meet. These mandates have scared away volunteers because it adds a lot of time for training.”Winsted Fire Department Chief Robert Shopey said his department is in constant need of volunteers.“We haven’t had full staffing for the department in over 30 years,” Shopey said. “We constantly struggle due to the state and federal mandates placed upon us. These requirements places a burden on everyone who wants to join the department, so it becomes a selective process. We have people who want to volunteer for us, but they can’t because they do not meet the physical requirements set by these mandates.”Shopey said the mandates have made it harder for all fire departments in the state to find volunteers.“Some people think you can just sign up, but it’s not like that,” Shopey said. “Any volunteering is time consuming and difficult. But it’s important to find volunteers because we need them. I don’t know what the answer is because you can’t soften these regulations. If the regulations are softened, then there are safety issues.”Despite the increasing state and federal mandates, Shopey, Marchand and Nader all said that they are hopeful that more volunteers step forward.“The volunteer fire department is one of the greatest institutions in our American history,” Nader said. “Over two-thirds of firefighters across the country are volunteers.”